Leaving the car lights on the other day threw Sugar's car off its ability to be of instant service for her. The slight inconvenience was soon remedied by a jump cable.—However, it brought back memories of my ‘olden days’ when, on a cold winter day, it was a chore to get the old Model T in the right condition to be of service to the Kik family.
When the zero hour arrived to make our weekly winter trip to Davenport, Dad would empty the kitchen stove reservoir by dipping out all the hot water into the water bucket. After doing a balancing act across the icy yard to the garage, the frosty motor block and radiator were treated to a dose of hot water—making the motor all warm and in condition for starting. About a quart of left over water was poured on the manifold, so the carburetor gas on its way to the cylinders would be in better shape to fire.
Unless there was a Chinook, the Model T oil clutch didn’t kick out successfully when cold, so one of the back wheels was jacked up. It made it possible for Dad to crank the motor over faster, to a flawless start. After clutching the spinning wheel to a stop, and lowering the jack, the once chilly Ford was ready to be driven and steered wherever you wanted it to go.
"Let's Have a Snowy Winter" Kik-Backs No. 3, page 21, part 3 (continued) (previous) (home)
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